From glam rocker to soul boy, Bowie underwent a major mid-career transformation
By the mid 70s, Bowie was revelling in his chameleon-like ability to shed the skin of one character and morph into something completely different. As well as keeping his fans guessing which guise he’d adopt next, it salved Bowie’s own attention disorder, a condition which seemingly meant he was seemingly condemned to absorb influences and his surroundings and radically shapeshift himself to suit. His transition from stomping glam-rocker to suave soul boy for Young Americans was his most radical to date.
Influenced heavily by the coke-fuelled hedonism of 70s New York, into which he’d thrown himself headlong, Bowie had been seduced by the sounds of early disco and soul music which he was hearing at clubs, in particular, cuts by Thom Bell and Gamble and Huff, known as The Sound Of Philadelphia. Keen to incorporate that sound into his own music, Bowie booked himself into Sigma Sound Studios, the home of Philly soul, in August 1974 during a break in his tour of the Diamond Dogs album.